Canisius College Catholic Studies Program presents a showing of the poignant documentary After I Pick the Fruit on Tuesday, November 12 from 7:00- 9:00 p.m. in Old Main, Room 303. The 90-minute film will be followed by a panel discussion in which the audience is welcome to participate.
Rochester film producer, Nancy Gherter, directed this regional documentary. Her work which humanizes migrant worker women “follows the lives of five immigrant women farm workers over a ten-year period as they labor in the apple orchards and fields of western New York, migrate to Florida, raise their families, and try to hide from the immigration raids that were conducted in response to the events of September 11, 2001.”
Ms. Gherter will introduce her film which follows with a panel of participants, including Msgr. David Gallivan, pastor of Holy Cross Church, Buffalo, where a vital migrant ministry exists. Discussion will offer some historic context surrounding migrant workers, primarily on the local level. It also will include response to the recent vocal anti-immigration movement with a sense of social justice that includes human rights for and dignity of migrant workers and immigrants.
Among consideration will be the implications of a recent commitment of Canisius College to resist anti-immigrant activities exemplified by President John J. Hurley’s signing of the American Catholic Colleges and Universities(ACCU) Immigration Reform letter, and a similar document put forth by the American Jesuit Colleges and Universities(AJCU) President’s Statement (January 2013).
Members of the migrant workers community, United Farm Workers and supporters of Cesar Chavez Grape and Lettuce boycotts during the 60s and 70s have been encouraged to attend.
More information about the film can be found at afteripickthefruit.com
This program is sponsored by the Canisius College Catholic Studies Program with assistance from the Offices of Mission & Identity, Campus Ministry, and, the Rev. J. Clayton Murray, S.J. Archives & Special Collections, and Andrew L. Bouwhuis Library.
This program is free and open to the public.For more information please contact: Nancy Rourke, Ph.D. Director, Catholic Studies Program at ext.2460 or rourkem@canisius.edu
Submitted by: Kathleen DeLaney, archivist
